


Saving Them

by cookingwithcyanide



Series: They're Safe Now [2]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: BAMF!Newt, Dark!Newt, Gen, M/M, Minor Character Deaths, Queenie Cares TM, lil bby newt is fucking shit up, lil bit, the perytons are ok tho so its all good, this one is a lil bloodier than the last
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-14 02:52:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9156505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cookingwithcyanide/pseuds/cookingwithcyanide
Summary: a sort of prequel to my other dark!newt fic, They're Safe Now. why did newt get arrested? why was he coverd in blood? now you know!





	

**Author's Note:**

> this is 100% inspired by Greenapril's comments on the other fic. bless yall. also, im taking a few liberties (read: pulling out if my ass) with the geography of new york, and with Queenie's legilimancy. My excuse with her is that a) newt is british and she has trouble understanding his thoughts bc of that, and b) she's trying to stay out of his head a bit. so she doesnt get clear thoughts, just feelings and intents from him.

Newt wasn't suprised, per say, to learn of the many and complex creature smuggling rings in New York. It was only to be expected: putting a ban on magical creatures meant that the demand for them was higher, and people were willing to do terrible things to supply that demand. So no, Newt was not _suprised_  when his colleague in South Carolina owled him about a peryton smuggling operation she had heard about in Manhattan. He was just thoughoughly disgusted.

He mentally listed what he knew from the letter. There were at least ten mature perytons being moved up the east coast, their antlers and feathers getting harvested for potions, charms, and other nefarious purposes. The ring was supposedly stopping in Manhattan over the course of the next week to conduct business.

 _Well,_ Newt thought dryly, tucking the parchment into his vest,  _perhaps I'll have to pay them a visit._

 

The first night, he went out simply to search of the ring, assuring the Goldsteins that he was headed to Central Park for a while to give some of his creatures an opportunity get some excersise. Tina frowned; sternly told him to be careful with his disillusioning charms. Queenie thought that it was real sweet of him to be so considerate to his creatures.

When Newt got to Central Park, itvwas his very best trackers that he released and informed of the night's objective: find the perytons, and report back to him. Do not engage the smugglers.

Dougal, bless him, located them in the labyrinth of the Lower Manhattan Shipyard within the hour. Newt called the rest of his eyes back to his case and returned home satisfied. Queenie was delighted to listen to him ramble on about how intelligent his demiguise was, how clever and sweet. Later that night, he prepared a misty, rocky new biome in his case for the perytons. He would need somewhere for them to stay when he inevitably freed them.

 

Before he headed out on the second night, Newt pulled Tina aside. "I got a letter from a friend of mine," he explained, "about a group of smugglers in the area. I'd go right to MACUSA with them but, well, you know how they are with creatures. I'd like to know a bit more about the situation, before it escalates. I don't want any of them to be hurt on accident." Being an older sister to Queenie had likely given Tina some solid defences against puppydog eyes, but Newt had Theseus Scamander for a brother. His were powerful. Tina worried her lip uncertainly.

"I suppose... I suppose it wouldn't hurt to scope them out. As long as you keep your distance." Tina knew he could take care of himself, that he had dealt with things like this before, but still. "Smuggling rings are nasty business." It wouldn't do for Newt to get into trouble because he threw himself too deep into an operation too big.

Newt smiled quietly. "Thank you, Tina. I'll file a proper report to MACUSA just as soon as I have a better idea what's going on." Newt knew he could take care of himself, too. He had brought down much larger operations than this on his own before, and he had no intention of filing any such report.

With one more thanks, Newt apparated out of the living room and away to the docks. He would have this plot unravelled by night's end. He'd be ready to strike by tomorrow.

 

The third night that Newt went out, he waved his goodbye to Tina, but Queenie cornered him just inside the door with a concerned twist to her mouth.

"Newt," she started hesitantly, "I know you promised to keep your distance, and I know I promised to try and keep out of your head, but..."

"What is it?" Newt was itching to get out and find his target. They wouldn't stay in one place for too long- he had to do it tonight. Queenie's best intentions weren't on the agenda.

"Well honey, it just feels a lot like you're getting yourself ready for something real big right now. You _are_  going to keep yourself out of trouble, aren't you?"

Newt quirked a smile in what he knew to be a reassuring way. "Of course, Queenie. I'm just trying to help the animals." It was the truth, if one looked at it a certain way, and he meant it. Queenie's worry washed away into relief.

"If you say so. I'm just being a worrywort, I guess. Still, be careful out there, alright?" She gave him a quick pat on the cheek as he assured her that he would.

"I'll see you later tonight," he promised, and apparated to an alley near the docks.

Everything was dark, briny, and salt-crusted there, the scenery and people alike. Newt stood out like a sore thumb with his bright blue coat and kind, earnest face. He disillusioned himself before any of the locals could make note of that. The warehouse where the perytons were being help captive wasn't far, and Newt had planned his ambush for a time when he knew that most of the men would be negotiating with black-market buyers over the prices of their stolen materials. He crept silently to an unremarkable side door and whispered an _alohamora_. The door whispered open even on its rusty hinges thanks to Newt's careful silencing charm. He padded in on cat feet and took stock of the warehouse.

There were the perytons, a total of 12 malnourished and wounded specimens cramped together in an ill-constructed pen in the corner. Many of them had their antlers sawed off, and huge patches of feathers plucked. Newt felt bile rise in his throat. A burly, gruff looking man with tattooed flowers blooming and wilting on his arms leaned sullenly against one of the posts, picking his nails. In the center of the vast space was a rickety table covered in a card game. Seated at it were two more guards, another man, this one with stringy hair and a face not unlike a troll's, and a spindly woman who was at least two heads taller than her companion. None of them noticed as he slipped further into the room- not until it was too late.

The man at the post was the first to go. Newt carefully aimed his wand (he couldn't have himself hitting any of the poor innocent perytons, of course) and whispered the killing curse with a familiarity that would have shocked anyone who met him. It struck the man square in the chest, and he collapsed without a sound. Totally unnoticed by his friends at the table.

Newt went for the tall woman next, quick and efficient. She slumped over her card and tumbled out of her chair. That at last caught the attention of the final man. He leapt up from his own seat and whipped out his wand.

"Who's there?" he cried just as Newt let his disillusionment charm fall away. The man's eyes slid to his form and shot open almost comically wide. "Fuck! What are you doin' here?" Hands shaking, he futilely tried to cast a shield charm around himself. "What are you doin' in New York, Scamander? I don't want no trouble, please!"

Newt shattered the feeble shield with a swipe of his wand. It seemed that his notoriety among the criminal world was spreading. "Perhaps," he intoned, silently stupefying the man, "you should have thought about that _before_  you decided to half destroy these poor creatures for a few quick bucks." He prowled closer to his prone form and stomped down hard on his ugly mug, revelling in the _crunch_  of his misshappen nose breaking beneath his boot. Newt paused for a moment before levitating the card table.

To the sound of the smuggler's last sobbing plea, Newt slammed the table hard into the man's blood-gushing face.

 

He was still standing there, breathing heavily, when the rest of the smugglers returned from their negotiations. Their leader took one look at Newt and froze. Newt held his gaze until the man turned tail and fled with the rest of the company. Doubtlessly, the authorities would arrive shortly. The perytons had to be attended to before that happened. He just managed to convince the last of them to climb into his case with promises of freedom and medical care when the Aurors burst into the room. Aurors Mitchell and Rey, Newt recalled from his frequent visits to Tina in the DMLE. The pair looked far more shocked to see him than he was them.

"Mister Scamander?" Rey eventually got out.

"What the fuck?" was Mitchell's more emphatic exclamation.

Newt's mouth twitched up awkwardly. "Good evening, Aurors."

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> i might write the interrogation scene? at a later date? i wanna play with newt talking his way out of trouble but also i Despise writing dialogue-heavy pieces, u feel?


End file.
